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DESIRE kicking off!

3. 3. 2019, 11:24 by NK

Peatlands must be recognised for their ecosystem services! The project DESIRE, sponsored within the Interreg BSR, improves the management of drained peatlands around the Neman river to reduce their nutrient and greenhouse gas emissions. It analyses questions like: What is the role of riparian buffer zones to mitigate nutrients pollution from agricultural lands? How to improve existing polices for sustainable peatlands management? What instruments and incentives are necessary to promote wet peatlands use? The DESIRE project will also provide practical guidelines for wise peatlands rewetting. DESIRE invites intersted scientists to discuss these questions at its kick off meeting on March 20.-21. March at Greifswald, Germany (IBZ Felix Hausdorff Centre, Bahnhofstraße 2/3). If you are interested to take part in the kick off meeting, you may register per e-mail to marina.abramchuk(at)succow-stiftung.de .

Colchis nomination feasible!

25. 2. 2019, 11:00 by NK

The Colchic plain in western Georgia harbours peatlands and humid forests, which were only slightly influenced by the ice ages. The outstanding value of the species biodiversity and composition as well as the special types of peatlands that can be found there have been recognized by the Georgian authorities, who strive for the inscription of the relevant protected areas in the list of UNESCO natural World Heritage Sites. The Michael Succow Foundation supported the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia with the project Feasibility Study to support the nomination of the colchic forests and moors as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In January, the nomination proposal was finalized and submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Center in Paris. Now we need keep the fingers crossed for a nomination and then a positive evaluation by the Commission. Acknowledgment of the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands as a World Heritage Site should strengthen the protection of these ecosystems and increase international attention towards them.

Persian Leopard in Ustyurt

14. 2. 2019, 11:37 by NK

New pictures from camera traps, set up during the November CADI-expedition, verify: The Persian leopard is still living in the Ustyurt Nature Reserve and seems to be in very good condition! The CADI-team is preparing the grounds for putting the Persian leopard on the Red List of Threatened Species in Kazakhstan which is not yet on the country's Inventory list of species. In addition, the CADI-team is developing an action plan for preservation of the leopard in Kazakhstan. The planned measures to monitor and protect the Persian leopard should not only save this threatened species, but also create conditions for the preservation of Ustyurt's unique ecosystem.

Herbaria go virtual!

26. 11. 2018, 15:27

Eleven scholars from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan received a one week-training by the CAViF-Project in November on how to catalogue herbarium specimens on the internet. The aim is to make Central Asia’s valuable botanical collections—which are currently available only in herbaria and mostly located in respective capitals— accessible to the wider public via an internet database. Among the specimens currently stored in the herbaria are findings from research expeditions to Central Asia dating back almost 200 years. These include herbarium specimens collected by such German botanists as Schrenk, Lehmann or Riegel. The key resource fort he current digitalistion is a database developed at the University of Greifswald, which already provides online access to information about the flora of Mongolia. Over the medium term, data about specimens stored in the herbaria are expected to be published for all plant species occurring in the region. The CADI-project supports the development of the digital herbaria in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, while simultaneously supporting botanists from Uzbekistan through a project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Both projects are being effectuated by the Michael Succow Foundation in cooperation with the University of Greifswald.